Microsoft delays open sourcing Windows 7 tool

Microsoft has delayed open sourcing its Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool, which …

After committing to making the source code and binaries for the Windows 7 USB/DVD Tool available under the terms of the GNU General Public License v2 (GPL) last week, Microsoft has pushed back its schedule a bit. The company is blaming testing for the delay, meaning it isn't simply rereleasing the tool under the open source license; it's actually modifying and removing some of the code (likely proprietary code the software giant doesn't want to be available freely). A post on Port 25, the company's open source community blog, late last week explains:

While we worked extremely hard to try and get the code ready for release by today, we still need to test and localize it. Our goal is now to release the tool in all languages on the same day in the next few weeks. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we work to make the Windows 7 USB/DVD Tool available once again.

Last week, Microsoft confirmed that the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool from the online Microsoft Store violates the GPL, a widely used (including by the Linux kernel) free software license. The problem wasn't just that Microsoft used open source code in the tool, but that it also released the tool under a closed source license, so Redmond decided to rerelease the tool under the GPL.

Two weeks ago, Microsoft pulled the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool from the Microsoft Store website after a report indicated that it incorporated open source code in a way that violated the GPL. The Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool not only allows you to download Windows 7 from the Microsoft Store, but it also lets you put the .ISO image files on a USB flash drive or a DVD.